Pondering
by katyana
Summary: Rose, the Doctor and their newfound companion, Adam, contemplate the day's events. Set directly after 'Dalek'.
1. Rose

She'd convinced him to let Adam come with them; and really, she was glad. The Doctor could get so infuriating sometimes; Adam was someone to share that with, as well as all the other marvels of the universe.

Wasn't he?

Her mind kept going back to the cell. His voice, the relief practically tangible when he'd realised she was alive.

And the Dalek. The woman you love.

Love?

Did he love her? Could he?

And what about her? How did she feel? If she was honest with herself, she'd barely thought about Mickey since leaving him. Why would she? Sure, he'd acquitted himself well in the whole Slitheen episode. But that was nothing to the way the Doctor handled himself in a crisis – with that maddening exclamation, 'Fantastic!' at the most inopportune of moments. If she really thought about it, things with Mickey had been over the minute the Doctor had grabbed her hand in the gloom, back in London. London, but not home anymore. Not really.

And yes, he had his faults. He'd been awful to Mickey, even after he'd managed to save them. And even though she knew that she didn't know the full story, his lack of emotion for the Dalek… It had shocked her. For all that she'd been living him for some time (even if she was no longer sure how long), she barely knew him.

And Adam, if she thought about it logically, was a much better choice. He was human, for a start. Not that it made much of a difference - except maybe her mum would be more likely to take a shine to him. And he was, undeniably, attractive.

And yet.

The woman you love.

Rose sighed. The Doctor was someone she'd never figure out. But then, if she was honest, that was part of what had attracted her in the first place.

* * *

Ok, so what did you think? This is my first attempt at Dr Who fic, and it was un-betad, so I apologise for typos and stuff. Please, let me know what you thought! 


	2. The Doctor

What, he wondered, had happened there? He'd been all set to destroy them, for once and for all. And then – he hadn't.

Because of Rose.

And now he'd let this new kid join them, some stuck up whiz kid from the England of Rose's future, simply because she'd asked him to.

He wondered what he'd have said if she'd asked him to let Mickey come with them. Even though Mickey himself hadn't wanted to. He'd felt very gracious, offering him that chance. Although more than a small part of him had been very relieved – joyous, even, that he'd turned the offer down.

He wondered what Rose was thinking. She was stood, gazing unseeingly at the main control panel of the TARDIS. His own mind kept going back to the Dalek's words.

The woman you love.

He'd barely thought about it at the time, he'd been more concerned about her. But now…

Love.

It was a big, scary concept, even for him. And that was saying a lot.

How had she reacted? He got the feeling that she too, had been more concerned with events at the time. Which meant that chances were, she was thinking about it now. He glanced over at her, still lost in thought.

Did he love her? Something had made him go back for her. Yes, he'd been lonely, but he'd been lonely before. And for those few moments when he'd thought she was gone – it had felt like something had snapped inside him. Something that had made him want to smash that Dalek into tiny, tiny pieces for scaring him like that. Until she'd told him not to.

Something that, right now, made him really, really wish that he hadn't given in to her and let this young human boy join them. A young human boy who was clearly eyeing his chances with her. He frowned.

Then gain, he wouldn't want to refuse her anything.

Still, love? He dismissed it from his mind. Why should he believe a Dalek anyway?


	3. Adam

What on Earth had he – no, what i not i on Earth had he got himself into? This morning, he'd woken up as usual, eaten breakfast as usual, got dressed as usual, gone to work as usual… Yet now, he found himself in a spaceship – a real, genuine spaceship! – of all things, with a beautiful girl from London and a rather grumpy looking alien who kept shooting evil glares at him.

Now that, he hadn't expected.

The chance to see the universe – it was something he'd dreamed of ever since he'd found out about Van Statten's collection, and the truth.

And what a truth. Even then, he couldn't possibly have imagined that it could be like this. That space travel, and time travel, could be approached with the same attitude as getting a bus home.

But it was so much more than that – the place, the TARDIS, was… Incredible. If he could get his hands on the technology used to… No, wait. He'd been with Van Statten too long. Besides, it wasn't him running the show anymore, and that woman – her name, as usual, escaped him - had hated him ever since he tried to ask her out a week after she'd joined the company.

That was another major advantage to this – he only had to remember two names, one of which wasn't even a proper

one, and the other… Well, he wasn't likely to forget her name.

She was absolutely stunning, he'd freely admit. But for all her assurances that she and the Doctor weren't together, he wasn't sure. The tension between them was clear, even to him. Still, he wasn't one to forgo a challenge. And even if he wasn't up to that challenge, the allure of the universe was far too strong for him to give it up. Even if it meant living with these two – he'd cope.

Besides, they couldn't be any worse than Van Statten and his constant jibes, could they?

He'd been warned about the danger - but if truth be told, he couldn't care less. So maybe his A-levels (six of them, all well deserved) didn't count for much out here. He was going to love it, he just knew it.


End file.
